Europe's economy shows signs of life with 0.3% growth in 1st quarter as inflation, energy woes ease

The economy had been held back by high inflation that has sapped consumer purchasing power, and by an energy price spike related to Russia cutting off most supplies of natural gas. Those headwinds have eased as energy prices have fallen and as inflation fell to 2.4% in April. But record high interest rates from the European Central Bank aimed at driving down inflation added another hurdle by raising the cost of credit for businesses and consumers. Read The Rest at :